Cathy Freeman: The Heart of a Nation

Cathy Freeman’s silver medal in the 400-metre run at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., introduced this rising star from Australia to the Olympic world. Her international fame grew when she became the first Aboriginal woman to take a world athletics title, winning the 400 metres at the 1997 World Championships.

Freeman had long been idolized in her homeland as a woman who pursued her dreams with great ardour. In 1990 she was given the Young Australian of the Year Award, and in 1997 she won the prestigious Australian of the Year honour. A defining moment of her career occurred at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, when she ran a victory lap draped in both the Aboriginal and Australian flags. Freeman’s actions revealed her deep pride in her ancestry and promoted discussion of cultural relations in Australia. She again ran her victory lap with both flags at the 1997 championships in Athens, where she became the 400-metre world champion, a title she successfully defended in 1999.

Not everyone in Australia wanted to see Freeman compete in the 2000 Sydney Games, however. Some Aborigines asked her to boycott the Games in order to protest racism in Australia. Freeman repeatedly rejected a boycott, saying she was in the Games to run, to compete, and to win—not to make political statements.

The pressure was high for Freeman. She was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. As a standout favourite, she approached the starting line of the 400-metre final wearing an unusual green-and-yellow hooded tracksuit and did not disappoint her fans, cruising to an easy victory in the event. She also placed seventh in the 200-metre race, and her team finished fifth in the 4 × 400-metre relay.